Hal's Holiday
by Angela3511
Summary: Stephanie's working for RangeMan full time, and working with all those gorgeous men while also on a no-sugar diet leaves Stephanie frustrated. Hal notices her dilemma. What happens when they go away for a week at the beach? Will jelly donut hormones run rampant, or will they be able to resist? Story is written, just needs to be edited and posted.
1. Donut or die

Hal's Holiday

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><p><em><strong>Author's note<strong>_: I'm so very, very sorry for the delay in continuing both "Distracting Ranger" and "Taking the Reins". I am working on both, but real life has intervened, and my muse decided Hal would be more fun to play with. This story is complete already, I just need to work on editing and transitions and get it posed. So no fears that I won't finish this one in a timely manner!

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><p>"Ranger, can I talk to you?" I asked in quiet desperation.<p>

"Sure, Babe. Go ahead."

"In private."

"No. If you need to talk to me about anything business related, you can say it in front of the whole core team," the rat bastard replied calmly.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Fine. You have to relax the sugar rules a little or you're going to get sued," I stated bluntly.

There was a moment of silence while Ranger's blank face slammed down after a quick flash of surprise. "What?" Tank finally asked. "You're going to sue us for restricting your diet?"

"Oh no," I replied. "I'm not going to sue you. But one of Merry Men will sue you for sexual harassment."

There was another moment of silence where I could Ranger trying not to smile and Tank, Bobby and Lester all looked completely baffled. "You have to explain that one, Beautiful," Lester finally said.

"I'm being a good sport about this. I'm running, working out. I'm shooting every gun that you sadistic sons of bitches stick in my hands. I'm doing all of Tank's paperwork, even when he sticks it in my stack of shit and tries to claim it's my work," I started. Tank got a guilty look on his face.

"I'm not complaining about any of it, or at least, not much. But I need a little sugar in my diet or the hormones are going to kill me and I'm going to take some of you out with me."

"What the hell?" Les asked.

"You see, when I go off sugar, my hormones go off the charts. And since you guys have me locked up like I'm in freaking Alcatraz, I have no outlet for my hormones. So either you let me out for the weekend, give me some sugar, or be prepared to be sued when I tackle one of the guys in the gym one morning and have my wicked way with him. Personally, I think a donut a day would be much cheaper than a lawsuit," I concluded.

There was a moment of stunned silence.

My attention was caught when Les raised his hand. "You have a question?" I asked him.

"No, ma'am," he told me with a wicked grin.

"Then what are you doing?" I asked in exasperation.

"Volunteering."

I blushed and Les started laughing. Oh hell no. I'd spent the last eight weeks getting physically and mentally stronger, and no way in hell was Lester Santos going to get me flustered this easily.

I looked him up and down and licked my lips like it was time for dessert. Then I stalked over to him and put my hands on my hips as I got in his face. "Thanks for volunteering. Be assured that IF I decide you have anything that I want, I'll take it."

I enjoyed the shocked look on his face for a second before pushing on his shoulders until his legs hit the back of the chair and he sat down with a loud thud. "Until then, sit down and shut up. I'll tell you what to do if and when I want you to do it. Understood?" Then I leaned over and licked the shell of his ear, laughing huskily as he gave a whole body shiver.

I looked over to see Bobby laughing silently, his shoulders shaking like he was having a seizure. "And you should stop laughing, Brown. The last time I was off sugar, I put the Italian Stallion into a sex coma. He locked himself in the spare bedroom and told me to wear a low cut shirt that let my boobs hang out to see if one of you guys could help pick up the slack. So just because Santos has volunteered to take one for the team doesn't mean your ass is out of the line of fire. Might take more than one Merry Man until I get some sugar in my diet."

That shut him up quick, and the look on his face, a combination of fear and arousal, was priceless.

"I want a donut on my desk by noon or I might start practicing takedown techniques that aren't in the bounty hunter's handbook," I promised as I put extra sway in my hips as I walked out of conference room, leaving stunned silence in my wake.

I was shaking with silent laughter as Les finally found his voice as I closed the door behind me. "Ranger, if you give her sugar, I will kill you with my bare hands."

Two hours later, I was contemplating weird and deviant ways to kill Rodriguez when Ranger stopped by my cubicle. "Babe, a word."

"Chocolate," I replied without looking up from the computer screen. "What was the word you were thinking of?"

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He sighed softly. "Come into my office, please."

"Since you said please," I said as I stood and stretched. I noticed that his eyes were drawn to the swath of skin exposed when I raised my arms over my head. It's his own fault, he's the one who told Ella to get me the short belly shirts. She told me so.

"Ranger?" I prodded.

He shook his head slightly and strode towards his office. I smirked and followed in his wake.

He sat down behind his desk and I flopped down on his leather couch. "What's up, boss?" I asked in a Bugs Bunny voice. As many freaking carrots as these guys had me eating, I could definitely commiserate with the Bugs.

"Babe, you have two of my best guys walking around with perpetual hard ons today," he said in an amused tone.

"Good, I'm not the only one with issues then," I replied. "But they can go out and hook up tonight. Or have a beer or two to loosen up. Or go out for a dozen donuts. You've got me locked down like I'm a damn criminal here and I have to tell you, Ranger, this was not in the deal when I agreed to work here."

Ranger looked at me for a minute. "You feel like we're treating you like a criminal?"

"Hell yes!" I all but shouted.

"Babe."

"Ranger, do all new guys have someone with them from the time they wake up until they fall asleep? Do they never get a minute alone? Because I haven't had any free time other than when I'm asleep or in the damn shower since I started working here full time eight weeks ago."

Ranger leaned back in his chair and looked at me. "Has it really been that bad?"

I nodded emphatically.

"Take me through your day."

"Someone bangs on my door at five-fucking-thirty in the morning. Then they drag me down to the gym and I go through two hours of working out. Then I have thirty minutes to shower, eat and get dressed before work starts at eight. Then I'm on the floor doing whatever until eleven, when I have to work at the range. Then lunch in the breakroom with whoever is around. Then more work on the floor. Then dinner in the breakroom. Then hand to hand combat practice with one of the guys from six to eight. Then various special skills practice from eight to nine or ten. Then I'm dumped back in my apartment and I'm too fucking tired to do anything more than shower and go to bed. I haven't even watched TV in God knows how long 'cause I'm too damn tired to pick up the damn remote! That's it. That's been my day for the last eight weeks."

His eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Weekends?"

"Someone's always around. I have absolutely no privacy. If I don't open my door within two minutes, they'll just break in. I swear to God, I'm shooting the next jerk who charges into my apartment without waiting for me to invite them in. Sometimes they'll bring over a movie or something, but I'm usually dragged down to the gym or range for lessons on something. I know they're just eager to help, but someone's going to be hurt, and it might not be me this time."

"Damn, Babe! Why didn't you tell me?" Ranger asked.

"Because I hoped it would slow down once the novelty wore off. But it hasn't. And if I have to be around hot guys all the time, I need sugar. So give me a donut for God's sake!"

He smirked at me. "Babe."

I smiled at him, a feral smile that would have made Joe Morelli cross his legs and guard his crown jewels. "I'm not kidding, Batman. The first few weeks weren't so bad because I was so damn tired that I didn't have the energy to worry about hormones. But I'm starting to get enough energy now. So you've got a conundrum here, Ranger. Either you give me a little sugar, or I traumatize one of your guys."

He barked out a laugh. "Babe."

"Fine, but I warned you."

He was starting to look a little worried. Good. Be afraid, be very afraid.

"We done?" I asked with a sigh as I glanced at my watch. "Someone's going to be dragging me off to range practice now."

Ranger's left eyebrow rose and he nodded.

"Bombshell! You can run, but you can't hide!" someone yelled.

I stuck my head out the door. "I wasn't hiding, Ranger needed to talk with me about something. You want to come in here and yell at him about it? No? Then shut the hell up! I'll be there in a minute!"

I turned back to Ranger. "Donuts, Ranger. Get me donuts."

I sighed again and stomped out the door. "I swear to God, Manny, I'm going to use you for target practice!"

"Aww, wifey, you don't mean that!" Manny replied.

"Try me!" I growled in response.

Manny escorted me down to the range where Hal was waiting for me. Rather than shoving a gun in my hand immediately, as was the typical practice for the Merry Men, Hal took a long look at me and paused with this hand on a Sig Sauer handgun.

"Steph, what's going on?" he asked as he pulled me into a hug. He'd finally gotten over me stunning him with his own stun gun and we'd settled into being friends. He was one of the few guys who I felt would really, truly listen to me, so I considered him a good friend.

And if he didn't want to listen, I could just stun him again.

Yeah, like I'd ever get away with that a second time.

I sucked in a deep breath and felt my hormones leap to life as the scent of gun powder mixed with what I could have sworn was Clinique Happy for Men.

I sniffed his neck. "Is that Happy?"

I looked up to see him grin slightly. "Yeah. My mom sent it to me last Christmas and I kind of like it."

"It smells good on you. Works well with the gun powder," I told him.

He grinned wider at me. "Thanks. Now tell me what's wrong."

I sighed and slumped in his arms. "I think I'm just running out of happy, and I don't mean the cologne. You guys have pushed me hard and I think I'm just about out of juice. I need the freaking weekend off or someone will pay dearly."

"What can I do?"

"Buy me a freaking donut!" I retorted.

Hal laughed. "I heard about your problem."

I moaned and buried my head in his chest. "Which one do I have to kill?" I asked.

Hal laughed harder. "Santos."

"I'm only shooting crotches today," I told him.

He chuckled again and squeezed me tightly. "I'll make a deal with you. You can shoot the crotches out of paper men if you agree to go to the beach with me this weekend."

I lifted my head to stare at him in shock. "Beach?"

He nodded. "I need to get away, and I've already reserved a beach house for the weekend. So you're coming with me. We'll leave soon as we get off work tomorrow night and have a couple of days to relax. There're a spare bedroom and I'll even let you have a couple of desserts while we're gone."

I looked at him with stars in my eyes. "Hal, I think I love you."

"Yeah, yeah, sweetheart. Now shoot the imaginary crotches on the targets," he told me as he pointed me towards the lane.

"Sir, yes sir!"

I picked up the gun I was using most frequently and went through the pre-fire ritual that the guys had drilled into me. After almost an hour of steadily blowing the hell out of the crotches of the targets, Hal approached when I'd put the gun down to clean and re-load it.

"Alright, Annie Oakley, you're good for today," he told me. "And remind me to never piss you off!"

Hal went with me back up to five, and went in to have a word with Ranger. I cornered Les in the break room and he looked like he was torn between being scared and excited.

"Santos, I thought I told you to shut up?" I told him. His eyebrows flew up in shock.

"Beautiful?"

"Apparently you've been spreading stories, which means that you're on my shit list now. So anything that I might have considered doing to you is now off the table. Which is too bad, since some of the things I could do to you on a table would probably blow what's left of your mind. But you had to go and run your damn mouth," I told him as I started nibbling on his neck, drawing a moan from him.

"Oh well, plenty more Merry Men for me to play with. Guess you're on your own now," I said with a purr as I stepped back.

He grabbed for me, but I managed to slip out of his arms with a laugh. "No, no. You should have kept your mouth shut."

"Babe, stop playing with my men," Ranger said as he walked into the room.

"Okay, I was done anyways," I told him as I walked out.

"Oh my God!" Les exclaimed.

I stopped at the door to smile at Les. "I prefer to be called Steph, but God will do, I guess. Goddess is more gender-appropriate, though."

Ranger was smirking at me.

"Ooo oooh, gotta get me some, gotta get me some, gotta get some, Merry Men," I sang as I walked away.

"Shit," Ranger muttered from behind me.

"What the fuck is going on with you two?" Les demanded. I paused out of sight. I wanted to hear his answer to this one too.

"It's complicated," Ranger said in his 'don't fuck with me' voice.

"Do you know how fucking sexy she is?" Les demanded again. "If she was mine, no fucking way I'd let her run around with a hormone problem. And if she's really not yours, then move aside, cuz, and let the more charming member of the family at her."

There was the sound of a fist hitting flesh, and an instant later, the sound was returned. "Fuck off, Ranger. No need to get so testy. And if you're going to throw a punch, don't throw it like a girl."

Then Les ran out of the room so fast that he didn't even see me. So I hightailed it away too.

I went through the rest of the day without incident. Les kept hovering nearby, probably hoping I would attack him again, but Ranger was nowhere to be seen.

Hal stopped by with sandwiches and told me that he'd cleared it with Ranger for us to head to Point Pleasant for the weekend. I was beyond excited to have a weekend away from the rampaging hordes of Merry Men and to be at the beach.

I got packed up that night after Cal finished throwing me around for two hours. He calls it self-defense practice. I call it fling Stephanie around like a freaking rag doll time.

I was getting better at self-defense, but it's hard to defend myself against someone twice my size with fifteen years more training. Especially since they'd all started wearing cups after a memorable first week when half the Merry Men had been walking around hunched over from my lethal knee. Guys have qualms about kicking another man in the 'nads. I have no such compunctions. In fact, it's usually my opening gambit.

I survived Friday with a modicum of good humor since I had the beach to look forward to. I did have a bit of fun at the Friday morning staff meeting.

"Any thing else?" Ranger asked at the end, as he always did.

"Yes," I said. "Gentlemen, I'd like to inform you that I have a new special friend," I started.

"Damn, Beautiful," Les drawled, "I thought we were keeping it on the down-low!"

I flipped him the bird. "In your perverted dreams!" There were chuckles around the table.

"No, my new buddy's name is Sig. And he'll be sleeping with me from now on. And if any of you break into my apartment, you will be meeting Sig up close and personal when I shoot you in the balls. We clear?" I announced.

There was a moment of silence before Hal started sniggering. "So that's why you were shooting the crotches on the targets yesterday?"

"Yep. Practice makes perfect. And I will have perfect aim the next time one of you jokers comes into my apartment without an invitation."

There were looks of horror around the table and a few guys' hands had dropped from view, presumable to guard their boys.

"You knock, I'll answer if I'm inclined to have company. But if I don't answer, you don't get to just barge in unless you want Uniball or Stumpy as your new nickname."

"Babe."

"Ranger. Forewarned is forearmed, right? Just putting everyone on notice that I expect the same courtesy as everyone else. And since I don't see you guys breaking in to each other's apartments all the time, please stop doing that to me. Or you won't like the consequences. That is all."

Lester, Bobby and Hal were practically rolling on the floor laughing at this point and even the normally stoic Tank was grinning widely. The other guys were either smiling or grimacing.

"Duly noted," Tank intoned. "Gentlemen, unless you wish to test her sharpshooting abilities, may I suggest you wait for her to answer your knock from now on? Dismissed."

I got a lot of smiles and smirks as the room emptied after the meeting. I was following the flock of hotties in black when Ranger snagged me by the back of my shirt.

"Ulk!" I stuck a finger under my collar and sucked in a breath. "Yeesh, Ranger! You could have just asked me to stick around for a minute!"

"Where's the fun in that?"

I let a smile curl my lips. "Oh, I'm planning to have lots of fun this weekend," I replied.

His eyes darkened. "Babe," he said in a warning voice.

"Ranger," I replied angelically. "I'm off the clock this weekend. So what I do doesn't concern you."

"I didn't realize things had been so bad. I'm sorry," he replied.

I staggered back in only semi-mock shock. "Did you just apologize?"

"Babe."

"Seriously. I think that's one of the signs of the impending apocalypse. I should call Bobby to check you out or something," I retorted.

"What have I told you about being a smart ass?"

"You guys love my ass," I told him.

His eyes darkened and his hands slid towards my hips. "I can help with your problem," he murmured.

"No way, man. You had your chance, you had years of chances. You keep your hands to yourself, that was part of the deal," I reminded him. "So unless you have cake hidden somewhere, back off."

Then I turned on my heel and sauntered away even though it nearly killed me. When Ranger had come to me and asked me to work for him full time, I'd initially been suspicious that it was a pity gig since things weren't going so well at the moment at Vinnie's. Not many skips were skipping. And the whole lot of bullshit with Joe.

"No, Babe, I need your help. We've lost several potential clients recently and I think it's mostly because the primary account holders were women and we scared the shit out of them," he'd replied.

"I'm guessing they weren't young women then," I'd replied wryly. Even most middle-aged women would probably have thrown themselves at any of the Merry Men who'd shown up for the sales meeting. Heck, my grandma would have gladly thrown herself and her panties at any of the Merry Men.

"Mostly middle aged and older," he confirmed with a slight smile. "We're the best but they all three chose to go with less reputable companies. I can't afford to keep losing accounts because my men and I terrify the customers. I need you, Babe."

Wow, way to melt a girl, Batman.

I leaned back against my ratty couch. I'd broken up with Joe for good when he'd gotten drunk and smacked me when I'd refused to listen to his bullshit about getting married. We weren't even dating at the time! And I dealt with enough shit in my line of work to not need to worry about getting smacked around at home too.

It was time to put on the big girl panties and put it all out on the table, so to speak. "And what about us?" I asked.

"We stay just as we are now, good friends. That won't change," Ranger replied.

"Ranger, I have a number of good friends, but I don't spend a lot of time making out with them in alleys," I'd replied. "That's more than mere friendship."

"That's all it can be, Babe. I told you, my life doesn't lend itself to relationships," he'd said in an implacable voice.

"Funny thing, though, Ranger. Friendship is a form of a relationship. Did you know that?"

"Babe, don't. I can't be more than a friend."

I'd stared at him for a long time. "Okay, Ranger. You win. But the kissing, touching, all that shit stops now. I'm tired of being jerked around by you. You say one thing and do another. It was bad enough with Joe and I'll be damned if I let you get away with it anymore either. So I'll come work for RangeMan, but you will keep your hands to yourself. Deal?"

"Babe, I've never jerked you around!"

I had laughed bitterly. "Bullshit, Ranger, and you know it! If any guy had ever treated Julie even a little bit the way you've treated me, you'd have shot him by now! You pull me close just to push me away. So if you say you can't do relationships, fine. But I refuse to do fuck buddies. It's all or nothing, no more fucked up in the middle bullshit."

He'd been beyond pissed with me, though only someone who knew him well would have noticed the minute changes in facial expressions, so I'd left him on the couch while I fed Rex and got a Coke. He'd calmed down after a few minutes.

"Babe, I always told you that I couldn't do relationships."

"Mismatch between words and actions, Ranger. But we'll be clear here. We'll be purely platonic friends. No touching, nothing at all sexual. Because I deserve someone who can do both the words and the actions. So do we have a deal?"

He'd left at that point without answering me, but he was back the next day. He agreed to my terms and conditions if I agreed to his, which mostly meant the standard employment contract of exercise (aka, medieval torture) and a diet of twigs and bark.

I'd agreed and so far, I'd stuck to my end of the bargain. This weekend, I was eating sugar and Ranger could go jump off a cliff if he thought otherwise.


	2. On the road

I finished the day with only a few interruptions from Merry Men and clients. By the time five o'clock rolled around, I was nearly vibrating with excitement.

I'd already delivered Rex to Ella's apartment on six and I had my bags by the front door. When Hal knocked on the door, I flung it open.

He looked shocked that I'd opened it so quickly. "You ready?" I asked. He nodded. "Let's go!"

"Damn, Beautiful! You leaving without me?" Les queried as Hal and I hit the stairs.

"Yep. Told you, you missed your chance by opening your big, fat mouth, Santos, so I've picked out another Merry Man for a weekend of wild fun!"

Hal shot a cocky grin at Les as we passed him.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Les yelled over his shoulder.

"Oh I'm pretty sure I can do lots of things you can't!" I retorted. "You don't have my flexibility!"

I could hear Les groaning in the stairwell as we hit the garage. Hal was laughing uproariously. I just smirked.

Hal led me to the very back of the garage where the guys store their personal cars and stopped in front of a red Jeep Liberty. "Hop in," he told me.

"Oh wow, this is a fun car!" I told him as I climbed in.

"Yeah, I get tired of driving a big black SUV all the time," he admitted. "But I'm too big to fit in a little car, so I need a SUV. Just wanted something a little different from the usual work one."

He stowed our bags in the back and then we were on our way. I was shocked but happy when he plugged in his iPod and 80s music started blaring. "You're a closet 80s fan?" I asked in wonder.

"Not so closet, but yeah, I grew up listening to Journey and AC/DC and I still like them," Hal admitted with a slight blush to his cheeks.

"Rock on, dude!"

He winked at me and handed over his iPod so I could scroll through his music. "I definitely love you now," I mused. He had almost all of my favorites.

Hal started chuckling. "Don't say things you don't mean," he warned.

I looked up. "Huh?"

"You shouldn't tell men you love them if you don't," he said.

"Oh. Well, I do love all of you guys. I just want to strangle some of you sometimes," I told him with a grin.

"How often do you want to strangle me?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"You? Not too often, you're not one of the ones who seems to delight in driving me nuts. *Cough* Les. You're a really nice guy and a good friend. So you're safe from Stephanie strangling," I told him.

He pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. "Phew. Thought this could be a long weekend if I have to be on constant alert that you're going to jump me!"

I rolled my eyes. "Nope, you don't need to be on alert that I'll jump you to strangle you," I told him.

"Should I be on alert that you'll jump me for other reasons?"

I nibbled on my lower lip. Honestly, yes, he should be. He was a big, sexy man, and if I didn't get some sugar soon, he was going to be in trouble. But he was Hal, and he was a sweet, innocent guy and I didn't think I could take advantage of him like that. Probably. Maybe. Heck, I could if I didn't get some sugar in me. Soon.

"Your silence is starting to scare me."

"Nah, I'll try really hard not to jump you."

"Damn, that's too bad."

Wait, what? I nearly gave myself whiplash turning to look at him. "Huh?"

He started laughing at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And what does that mean?" I demanded.

Hal grinned at me. "Just because I'm not a big flirt like Santos doesn't mean I don't think you're gorgeous. But I can also bake you dessert to take care of the hormone problem, too, sweetheart."

Be still my heart. "You BAKE?"

He chuckled again. "Yes. I bake."

Holy shit. "What are you going to bake for me?"

"I figured we'd stop at the grocery store and you can tell me what you like. We have a fully stocked kitchen at the house and I can cook just about anything. Well, just about anything normal. I don't do the weird stuff on Food Network or all that jazz, but regular food, I can cook that. But I make the world's best chocolate fudge brownies."

"Will you marry me?"

"Absolutely."

"You prove yourself in the kitchen and I'll seriously consider it," I told him with a grin.

"I can prove myself in other rooms, too," he told me with a quick grin and wink before he turned his attention back to the road.

"If you end up not being as good at baking as you claim, that might not be optional," I muttered to myself.

When he busted out laughing, I realized I'd spoken out loud again. Shit, I have to stop doing that.

"First time I've ever contemplated screwing up a meal on purpose," he chuckled.

I flipped him the bird and he grabbed my hand. I barely even saw his hand moving before my hand was trapped in his. "Be nice," he admonished.

"Or what?" I challenged.

He shot me a quick glance. "Or no brownies for you."

"That could be hazardous to _your_ health," I teased in return.

"I served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I've seen combat. There's not much I can't handle, sweetheart," he told me with a grin that flashed dimples at me.

"You haven't seen me without sugar. That's worse, at least according to Morelli."

"Morelli's a jerk," Hal replied instantly. "Only punk losers hit women."

True. But I didn't want to talk about Morelli anymore.

"Tell me more about my prospective future husband," I teased.

He grinned. "I was born and raised in Tennessee. I'm the youngest and I have two older sisters. I played football on a scholarship to go to college and then joined the Navy when I graduated. Then I tried out for the SEALs and made it. I was a Navy SEAL for eight years before I blew out my ACL on my last deployment. I got a medical discharge but my knee's fine now thanks to a new surgical technique that was still experimental back then. Once I finished rehab for my knee, I was offered the job with RangeMan and I moved to Trenton."

"Why'd you move? Why not stay near your family?"

"Because I get along much better with my family when we aren't in the same state."

Now that I could definitely understand. "What do you mean?"

He sighed softly. "My dad didn't understand why I wanted to go to college, but he couldn't complain much when I got a scholarship to cover most of it and a part-time job in the off-season to cover the stuff the scholarship didn't pay for. He figured it was a phase and I'd grow out of it. He couldn't understand why I didn't want to be a farmer like him and his dad before him and so on. But when I refused to come home after graduation, well, that just completely pissed him off. And dad had been drafted for 'Nam, so he sure as heck didn't understand my desire to voluntarily join the military. So I was the ungrateful son, the boy who didn't know his place. So he gave me an ultimatum- come home after graduation or be disowned. So I'm disowned."

I reached over and squeezed his hand. "Wow. That sucks."

He squeezed my hand back. "Yeah. I talk to my mom and sisters occasionally, but my dad's a pretty macho and overbearing guy. Not too unlike Morelli, actually, but he's never, to my knowledge, hit my mom. He just thinks that women should be wives and mothers and should listen to their fathers and husbands. A load of crap in my opinion, but mom and my sisters pretty much do as he says. But they call occasionally and send me cards and presents for my birthday and Christmas."

I shook my head. "Sounds like they'd get along great with my mom."

Hal chuckled. "Probably. But they'd be completely baffled by you."

"They could join the club!" I exclaimed.

"Do you regret it?" I asked after a moment.

"Do I regret joining the Navy?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"No. I love my family, but I don't want that life. I loved growing up on a farm, but I don't want to be a farmer. It was a hard life and the only reason I was able to go to college was because I was a big guy who could tackle other big guys. There's very little money in small scale farming like that anymore, and I don't want to spend my life worried that every season will be the last one because of weather or bugs or whatever. It's just not for me, even though my dad insists it's in my blood. Sure, I miss my family, but they made their choice. I didn't cut them out of my life, they cut me out of theirs because I simply wanted a different life. That hurts, but I wouldn't want to live the life they decree for me simply to see people who would never see the real me."

I was silent for a long time, too long, I guess. "Steph?"

I shook myself from my stupor. "Sorry. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better for me to cut my mom out of my life. Do you know she said it was my fault that Morelli hit me? That if I would just grow up and settle down, that everything would be fine? I've avoided her like the plague since then. How the hell is it my fault that he shows up drunk and uninvited at my apartment weeks after we break up and hits me? But everything's always been my fault as far as she's concerned. EE Martin closing- my fault. Dickie's cheating- my fault. Morelli's drinking- my fault. And I'm just tired of it."

"Steph, you know it's not your fault."

"I know. But how can my own mother say that it's okay for someone to hit me?" I asked.

"Sweetheart, your mom is nuts."

I laughed. "I guess."

"What about your dad and grandma? And your sister?"

"Dad was ready to kill Morelli. Grandma too. I'm not sure about Val, I've only spoken to her once since it happened that was only for a second. But I do talk to my dad and grandma regularly and they're both on my side."

"So at least half your family's on your side. And all the guys at RangeMan are on your side. We had to forcibly restrain Ranger when he found out what happened, I really think he was going to kill Morelli. We'd have all helped, of course, and have hidden the body, but we figured you wouldn't have wanted that."

"It would have depended on the timing. Right after it happened, I wanted to kill him myself. Slowly. And with extreme prejudice. Now, I'm really pissed and angry, and if he ever comes near me again, he won't be walking normally for a while and he'll probably never have the ability to father children, but I don't want him dead. In extreme mortal agony praying for death, but not dead," I told him.

"And again, remind me to never piss you off."

"That would be a very good plan," I told him seriously. "I'm your best friend in the world until you betray me. And then I'm just on the warpath."

He grinned at me. "I've heard about the Buick."

"Once my twelve weeks in training hell are over, I should buy a Buick to scare the living shit out of Morelli," I mused. "And it would make my dad happy if I bought an American car."

Hal smiled. "I'll take you car shopping when you're ready to buy something new. Just let me know when."

"You know a lot about cars?"

"I know enough. And I know how to look big and scary and convince the sales guy to give you a good deal," he replied.

"I've never seen you look scary," I challenged. Big, hell yeah, he would give Tank a run for his money, but he was too nice to look as scary.

There was an instant change that came over him. Instead of the relaxed, smiling guy, he turned into a scary son of a bitch only slightly less intimidating than a pissy Ranger. His eyes went cold and hard, and his shoulders seemed wide enough to fill the whole car. His face was blank but there was an underlying edge of menace that made my eyes widen in shock.

"Holy Hannah! How'd you do that?" I asked.

He grinned and my buddy Hal was back as he turned briefly to wink at me before looking ahead at the road. "SEAL game face. Scare the pants off the bad guys."

"Why've I never seen you looking like that before?"

He shrugged. "You're not typically paired with me. And I don't usually run around the office wearing my game face. I save it for when I need it."

"Yeah, I think you could convince a car dealer to give me a good deal."

He smirked at me. I could hear the 'I told you so' loud and clear despite the lack of words.

I stuck my tongue out at him and was shocked when he stuck his back out at me. How'd he even see me? "You're supposed to be watching the road, not me," I told him.

He just laughed. "I can do both. I have excellent peripheral vision." I tested that by rolling my eyes at him. He laughed again.

We chatted about music and movies and light, fluffy topics until we reached the outskirts of Point Pleasant. Then we stopped at a restaurant that Hal swore had such amazing food that he always stopped there on his way to and from the beach. He was right, and he was also wiggling uncomfortably by the time I finished the chocolate peanut butter pie. Yeah, I had enjoyed food with actually fat and sugar in it. So sue me.

But judging by the naughty grin on Hal's face, which didn't make him look so innocent anymore, he had enjoyed it too.

Then we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a bunch of stuff, including ingredients for the brownies he promised me. After two months of zero dessert, it was imperative for my sanity and his virtue that I get more sugar in my system!

We got to the secluded beach house and I must say, I was impressed. "What do you think?" Hal asked as he carried in our bags.

"It's really nice!" I exclaimed. "Much nicer than the houses we usually stayed at when I was a kid."

"Yeah, it's the one that I usually rent when I'm out here. I just needed to get away for a bit and the beach is always my go-to place to relax, and this is a nice house to relax in. Plus, this is probably the last chance I'll have to swim in the sea until next summer," Hal said in a slightly wistful tone.

"Yeah, I guess you'd be used to swimming in the ocean if you're a SEAL," I said.

"Yeah. I spent a lot of time in the waves and I miss it. That was part of the reason why I came to Trenton. It was closer to the ocean than any of the other jobs that were offered to me." He shook his head and then looked over at me. "Let's put up the groceries and then go for a walk on the beach. Then I'll make you my world famous brownies."

"Deal!"

I helped him put up the groceries and I enjoyed the playful banter between us. We'd been friends back at RangeMan, but we'd never teased each other quite like this. But he'd use his hip to knock me out of the way so he could put something in the fridge, and I'd return the favor a moment later.

When I stood staring too long at the bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips, licking my lips in anticipation, Hal chuckled and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder in a fireman carry.

"Hey!" I shrieked as my world tilted on its axis.

"You were looking at little too lustfully at that chocolate, sweetheart," he retorted.

I slapped him on the butt and he slapped mine back. Mmm, having his tight ass right in front of my face was not helping me with my hormone problem. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but his arms just tightened around my legs, and I knew I wasn't going anywhere.

He carried me down the stairs of the back deck down to the sand before letting me slide down his hard body back to the ground. "Not fair," I grumbled. "You don't understand how much I _need_ that chocolate."

"I'll take care of all of your needs, I promise," he said in a husky voice as he grabbed my hand and hauled me down the beach. The moon was rising over the waves and it was beautiful. I felt safe with Hal, knowing that there were probably numerous weapons strapped to him, and that he'd protect me if a rogue crab tried to eat my toes. If all else failed, I'd climb him like a tree and be safe from curious crustaceans.

"So if you needed to get away from everyone, why'd you invite me to crash your solitude?" I asked as we meandered up the beach.

"You needed to get away too. And I needed to get away from the guys, not you."

"How am I different?"

"Stephanie, sweetheart, you aren't one of the guys."

I rolled my eyes at him and he chuckled softly, reaching over to tuck a curl behind my ear. "Duh. But if you wanted to be alone, that'll be a lot harder to do with me around. But I plan to sleep quite a lot and just veg, so I guess I won't annoy you too much," I mused aloud.

"You don't annoy me. Okay, stunning me with my own stun guy annoyed me slightly, but I was annoyed at myself, not at you. And we have been pushing you hard, but only because we want you to be able to take care of yourself if that sorry excuse for a man ever tries to lay a hand on you again. Honestly, you've impressed the hell out of all of us and we're all proud of you. I figured you needed to get away as much as I did, and I can't think of anything better than a weekend alone with you."

I tilted my head to look at him. "Why's that?"

"You want the easy answer or the honest one?" he asked softly.

"Is there a difference?" I asked in confusion.

"Probably."

"I'm trying to be more grown up about stuff, so the honest one, please."

"Okay." He sucked in a long, deep breath. "Because I love spending time with you. Because you make me smile. Because I wanted to kill Santos when he starting talking about how he volunteered to take care of your hormone problem. Because I want to be the one to take care of any problem you have, especially hormone ones. I'm not looking for a weekend of sex, but a real relationship with you. If that's not what you want, then I can deal with it and we'll still be friends. But I want you to know how I feel."

I sat down abruptly on the sand. "What?"

"What part didn't you understand?" he asked as he squatted down beside me.

"Um, all of it?"

"What's not to understand? You're a gorgeous, amazing, wonderful, smart, caring and compassionate woman. You accept us without question, defend us from those who judge us by how we appear to be. I don't know what happened between you and Ranger before, but something seems very different since you started your training. And God only know that if you were with me, you would not be complaining about having a hormone problem as long as I was around and out of a coma. So I wanted to let you know how I felt about you, and when you said you needed a little happy, this seemed like the ideal solution. I'm not going to pressure you into anything, Steph. I would never do that to you or any woman. I've told you how I feel, and now you need to decide how you feel. No pressure, no time limits. My only request is that you spend a little time with me outside of work before you decide. I might surprise you when I'm not surrounded by the job and the guys."

"Holy heck, Hal! You've already surprised me today, more than you can ever know, and not just with this tonight. You actually told me stuff about you, opened up. That right there's a big shocker in my experience. You just always seemed so very shy and innocent that I wasn't expecting you to be this flirty with me."

"You should know that appearances can be deceiving. I'm more reserved than most of the guys and it takes me longer to warm up to people, so I was quiet at first while I was getting to know everyone and making sure I could trust them. But I know you now and you know me, and I have no reason to be shy anymore. And I haven't been innocent in very long time. I'm not a player like Santos, I'm not just wired that way. Despite my differences with my family, some of how I was raised stuck. I like women and find them attractive, but I just can't do one-night stands, even if they are consensual. I think sex should only between the people involved, and not office gossip fodder. So that's why I'm uncomfortable when Santos starts in on his latest conquest, because I'm uncomfortable with him talking about women like that and being so open about something that I think should be private. But it doesn't mean I'm a virgin or sexually repressed. I'm not."

I gaped at him.

He chuckled and sat down next to me, slinging one well-muscled arm around me. "I'm just asking you to consider the possibility, Steph. That's it. No pressure. I promise to be on my best behavior. I'll bake you brownies and cake and whatever you need to help you deal with your hormones. I want you to know that I'm not just after sex. I want more, and I want it with you."

I leaned against his side and watched the inexorable wax and wane of the tide until I felt myself starting to drift off to sleep, lulled by the sound of the waves crashing and warm arm around me. I was awake enough to protest when Hal swung me into his arms, but he shushed me. "Let me take care of you tonight."

He carried me up the stairs and had to jiggle me slightly to get the sliding door to the deck open. Then I was being laid gently on a bed. I woke up enough to help him remove my shoes and jeans, and I remember him pressing a kiss to my forehead before he tucked the blankets to my chin.

_**Author's note:**_ And here's chapter 2! Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and author/story alerts. They make my day! So what do you think Steph should say?


	3. Aquatic adventures

When I woke up the next morning, I had a brief moment of panic when I didn't recognize where I was until memory kicked in.

I took care of a screaming Mother Nature and brushed my teeth and hair before getting dressed and heading out to look for Hal. I found him on the back deck, shirtless and sweaty as he did push ups.

I'd never really studied Hal like I had some of the other Merry Men, so I took a moment to examine him objectively. He was big, almost as big as Tank and almost a whole foot taller than me. I didn't know his exact height, but he was probably somewhere in the 6'4" range. He also had very broad shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist. His muscles were big and impressive without being overpowering. He looked strong and capable, not like a circus freak strongman or a walking advertisement for steroids.

His skin was only a couple shades darker than mine and I admired how it rippled over taut muscle as he went about his morning exercises.

His hair was kept short but not nonexistent like some of the guys. It was a light brown. I couldn't see his eyes while he focused on his push ups, but I knew they were a warm blue. They sparkled with humor when he was teasing me during the drive yesterday, and had darkened to navy blue when I was happily eating dinner last night.

His face seemed so innocent at times, but that was probably when Les was doing his best to make him blush. He'd been scary when he'd morphed into the SEAL badass, but he'd also been tender and sweet when he'd told me how he'd felt last night.

By any standard, he was a gorgeous, attractive man. He wasn't hot in the same type of way that Ranger was hot, but he was just as hot in the captain of the football team type of way. It was just a different kind of hot.

He was also an enigma. But there was nothing more I loved than a good challenge.

I cleared my throat and grinned when he jumped slightly. "Morning, sunshine," he said with just a slightly breathless voice.

I'd learned from bitter experience that my voice was completely breathless when the Merry Men made me exercise like that.

"Morning, Mr. Universe."

He chuckled slightly but continued pumping out push ups for another minute and a half before he rolled over to his back and looked up at me, his blue eyes glinting in the sunlight.

"I figured you'd sleep a few more hours," he commented.

"Guess I've gotten used to waking up early," I said crankily. "Since you guys won't let me sleep past seven even on the weekends."

"Hey, don't include me in that group. I've got more sense than bang on your door that early on a weekend," he protested.

"You promise you never did it?" I asked.

"Cross my heart," he said as he crossed his finger over his chiseled pecs. "I've banged on your door at five-thirty a few times when we had to get down to work out, but never on the weekends. I swear."

I studied his earnest eyes for a moment. "Okay. I believe you."

I grinned as his face broke into a wide smile. "Good. I'm glad you trust me."

I sat down next to him and looked out at the ocean, where the sun had just barely risen over the low hanging clouds. "So what was your plan for today?" I asked.

"I'm flexible. Figured I'd just relax on the beach a little and then swim later on once it had warmed up a little. Supposed to be pretty warm this afternoon and tomorrow. I picked this house because it's pretty far from anything else, and I wanted to be a little farther away from the crowds. I like having my privacy when I can get it. But I'm also cool with going into town and hanging out on the boardwalk if that's what you want to do," he offered.

I shook my head. "No. I'm crashing your vacation, so I'm not going to ask you to do anything you hadn't planned to do already. And honestly, just hanging out on the beach working on my tan sounds like a dream come true after the last eight weeks of near constant work."

Hal grinned up at me. "Then let's grab some breakfast and hit the beach."

"Please, tell me there's something other than granola and yogurt," I begged.

"How about chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Yes!" I screeched. "But do we have the stuff for that?"

"We do now. I went back to the grocery store early this morning and picked up some pancake mix and maple syrup. Since I didn't make you any brownies last night, I figured I owed you a good breakfast," Hal told me.

"Oh sweet Jesus," I moaned in eager anticipation.

"Steph," he said in a strangled voice. "You can't make those noises or you won't be getting any breakfast."

I opened my eyes to see that his eyes had gone dark and he was watching me intently. "Oops. Sorry. But I haven't had pancakes in literally months."

He cleared his throat and looked away while I blushed rosily. "Okay. Uh, so you can help me with the food then."

I started laughing. "I don't cook."

"I didn't say you would cook, I said you would help," he said as he morphed back into the in control, smiling Hal I knew.

"I can set the table. But ask my mom, I'm not to be trusted around any type of heating element."

"Okay, then you can set the table and get the coffee going," Hal said as he pulled on a shirt. He'd already set out a mixing bowl and all the other items he'd need on the island.

I couldn't believe I'd ever thought this guy was shy and quiet. We joked and teased easily as he whipped up the pancake batter and soon had it sizzling on a big electric skillet. Then he beat a bunch of eggs, quickly scrambled them in a frying pan while turkey bacon popped and sizzled in a cast iron skillet on the stove.

I was completely astounded by how fast breakfast was ready, but you'd never catch me complaining. I poured the coffee and orange juice just as Hal slid a triple stack of chocolate chip pancakes in front of me.

I drenched the pancakes in real maple syrup and quickly dug in. I started moaning in delight after the first bite, my taste buds doing backflips of joy at their first taste of real chocolate in months.

"So?" Hal asked. "Do they pass muster?"

"Holy mother, these are delicious!" I said as I stuffed another bite into my mouth.

He grinned at me. "Glad you like them," he said simply as he dug into his own breakfast. He was not nearly as vocal.

By the time I finished my first stack of pancakes, the second batch was done. Hal jumped up to get me more, and I couldn't help but notice that he was anything but unaffected by my vocal appreciation of his breakfast skills. And boy, but he was big all over.

After six pancakes, three eggs and five strips of bacon, I was finally full. I leaned back in my chair with one last moan of happiness. I looked up to see Hal looking at me with a wicked grin on his face and his eyes a deep, dark blue.

"You're going to be the death of me," he assured me as he shook his head.

"I can't help it!" I said with a blush. "God knows I've tried, but I can't turn it off. If I eat good food, I make noise. My mom tried to beat it out of me as a kid but it's just how I am, I guess."

His face went from smiling to unhappy in a heartbeat. "Beat it out of you? Please tell me you don't mean that literally."

"No. Not literally. Well, not really. She wouldn't beat me, but she would sometimes spank me for it. Then when I got older, I'd get sent to my room without the rest of my dinner if I made any noises. But I really can't control it."

He closed his eyes for a minute and I saw him trying to get control of himself. "Where was your dad during all of this?" he finally asked, his jaw tight.

I shrugged. "She didn't usually do it when dad was around. When she tried, he'd argue with her and tell her that it was unconscious and I shouldn't be punished. So he didn't know about it."

His hands clenched on the table and he sucked in a couple of deep breaths through

his nose and let them out through his mouth. "Okay. We need to go to the beach now before I drive back to Trenton and teach your mother some manners that might get me arrested."

I stood quietly and started clearing the table. After I put the dishes in the sink, I found myself trapped in a pair of warm arms. I looked up into a pair of concerned eyes. "You okay?" Hal asked as he pulled me to his chest.

I nodded. "Sorry I ruined the good mood."

"Sweetheart, you didn't ruin anything. You were just answering questions, telling me about yourself. It just bothers me that your mom treated you like that," he assured me. "Please, don't feel like you ruined anything."

"We were having a good time, joking around. And then I ruined it," I insisted.

"No, you didn't. Nothing is ruined. I'm just a little aggravated with your mom, and I figured it would be best if we went outside where I'm away from the temptation of calling her and telling her what an evil witch she is," he said.

I was staring at his chest and he forced my chin up to look him in the eyes. "Nothing is ruined. I promise. Trust me?"

I stared into his eyes for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "Now go put on your bathing suit so we can hit the beach," he said as he let his arms fall loosely to his sides. "I'll meet you on the deck in a few minutes."

I went to my room and changed into a blue and purple floral bikini. It showed off my figure without being too overtly sexy, and I thought it was cute. I shoved a couple of novels, a big beach towel and bottle of sunscreen into a bag. Once in the kitchen, I snagged a couple of bottles of water from the fridge, one for me and one for Hal.

I found Hal out on the deck. He was staring off into the distance, and for the first time really, I could see the badass in him. I'd seen a little of it in the car, but that had only lasted for a second before he'd grinned at me.

Any sane person would have left the big, brooding guy the hell alone. Good thing for me that no one has ever accused me of being sane.

"Hey," I said softly.

His eyes softened as he looked at me. "Hey, sweetheart," he said as he held out a hand to me. His towel and a book were in his other hand.

I accepted his hand and we walked together down the beach until we found a smooth area to spread out the towels. I pulled off my cover up and he groaned. I turned to look at him.

"You look beautiful," he told me.

I blushed and looked away. "No, please don't hide from me," he said as he stepped into my new line of sight. "Why do compliments bother you?"

"They don't bother me per se. I'm just not that used to them," I told him.

"Why not? You're a beautiful woman. You should be used to hearing men tell you that you look gorgeous."

I could feel the blush beginning again in my cheeks, and obviously the pancakes hadn't been enough to completely wipe out my hormones since they were running riot.

"Morelli wasn't big on compliments. And Ranger's not big on talking, period. And most of the compliments I get from skips aren't exactly fit for polite company," I explained.

He grinned at me. "Well, you're beautiful, and that bathing suit is gorgeous."

"Thank you, kind sir. Could you do my back?"

He groaned but accepted the bottle of sunscreen I handed him. "You sure know how to torture a guy," he said in resignation as his big hands began spreading the lotion over my back and neck.

I looked over my shoulder to grin at him. "Nah, this is nothing. I've come up with all sorts of gruesome things for Morelli. That's torture."

He chuckled and slid his hand under the straps of my top. Holy hotflash!

I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep from moaning out loud as his hands drifted down my waist to curve over my hips. His hands vanished for a moment, and then they were back with more of the lotion as he squatted down and applied lotion to my legs.

I squealed as he got the back of my knees and could help but moan when he massaged my calves. They were sore from all the training I'd been doing, and having his hands on my legs rubbing them was sheer heaven.

"Sore?"

"A little."

"Lay down on the towel for me."

I looked at him for a second before complying. Once I was stretched out, my head on my hands so I could watch the water, he knelt on the towel next to me. Then his hands were rubbing up and down my legs, just the right amount of pressure to make me want to writhe in joy.

"Oh…. God…." I moaned as he used sure, firm strokes that went from my ankles to the tops of my thighs to work the soreness out of my overworked muscles.

"You can call me Hal," he whispered in my ear.

"Keep doing that and I'll call you whatever you want," I panted.

After what felt like forever, he shifted and I sighed despondently as his hands lifted off my legs.

Then I gasped when cold lotion slicked hands smoothed over my back. He started rubbing my shoulders and I felt the muscles of my back dissolve. He rubbed my shoulders and my back until there was not one bit of tension left in my body. I was a barely breathing pile of goo on a beach towel.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to go for a swim," he told me softly.

"Hmm? Oh. I thought you wanted to wait until it warmed up?"

"No, colder is better," he said softly before I heard his soft footfalls as he walked away.

I lay on my towel and contemplated everything that had happened in the last few days.

I was finally out of the building and away from the guys. I loved them, but I was about to kill a few of them if I didn't get a little alone time. And Ranger might be at the top of that list. He wasn't the one bugging me, but it was his bright idea that I join RangeMan; ergo, it's all his fault.

Then I'd finally snapped and told Ranger and his core team to give me sugar or face the consequence and loud mouth Lester had promptly spread it all over the freaking building. I'd have to come up with a suitable punishment for that.

Then Hal had been the one guy to see how close I was to the edge and take the time to ask me what was going on. Then he'd invited me to the beach with me so I could have some time away. And sugar, let's not forget sugar. Although if his admission about his feelings was true, he probably wouldn't object too much if I jumped him and had my wicked way with him.

But now Hal, who I'd never thought of as anything more than a somewhat shy friend, had admitted to having feelings for me, and even more astounding, to wanting a relationship with me.

I'd told Ranger months ago that I wanted a guy who could do both the words and the actions. Between both Ranger and Morelli, I'd gotten both, but not from one guy. Ranger had a corner on the actions. He was always supportive, there with his unwavering support anytime I needed it, no matter what. But he refused to admit to a relationship, and I needed to be acknowledged as more than just a fuck buddy.

Morelli claimed to love me and insisted that he wanted to marry me, but his actions were the furthest thing from that. He belittled me and only wanted me if I'd change everything about me. No thanks.

But Hal, now this was interesting. He said he wanted a relationship, and so far, his actions supported that. He was the one to notice that I was about to kill someone. He was the one to invite me to the beach. He was also the one to make me amazing chocolate chip pancakes, to give me a massage until I went boneless, to carry me to bed and tuck me in when I fell asleep. So far, he got a gold star for actions matching words.

So now the question was how I felt about him.

I lifted my head to rest on my hands while I stared at the water. I could see Hal swimming steadily, farther out to sea that I would have ever ventured without a big honking life vest and the entire cast of Baywatch on standby, but he was a SEAL. He could probably handle himself better in the water than David Hasselhoff could ever dream of.

The buzzing of my cell phone captured my attention. Ranger.

"Yo," I answered.

"That's my line, Babe."

"I stole it. Deal with it," I retorted.

He chuckled quietly. "How's the beach?"

"A-mazing," I purred.

"What contraband has he fed you so far?" an amused Ranger asked.

"Chocolate peanut butter pie at dinner last night and homemade chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning. And he promised chocolate fudge brownies in my immediate future," I told Ranger. "And it's not contraband. I'm off duty this weekend so I can swim in a river of chocolate if I so desire."

So put that in your peace pipe and smoke it.

"Babe."

"Was there a point to this call or are you just trying to screw with my happiness?" I asked.

"What's got you so happy?" he asked.

"Hal made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then slathered me with sunscreen. Now I'm chilling on the beach soaking up the sun. So stop harshing my mellow, dude."

Ranger chuckled. "You've been around Mooner and Dougie too much. Where is Hal?"

"Doing his SEAL thing swimming."

"How would you feel about staying longer?"

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

There was a moment of silence. "Can't I be a nice boss?"

"You? No. So why?"

"Babe."

"Ranger."

"I had Hector pull the video from the weekends, and the guys have been overly… enthusiastic with you. With all the time they've forced you into the gym and range on what should have been your time off, I figure you've earned a little extra time away."

"What about Hal?"

"He already had next week off. Didn't he tell you?"

I narrowed my eyes at the oblivious SEAL swimming happily out of range of my death glare. "No."

"He was going to bring you back tomorrow evening and then head back out to finish his week off. If he's willing to have you around for the rest of the week, you can take the time. You should have had the time as weekends off. I just expect you to keep up with your workouts so you don't loose progress."

"Deal," I told him.

"Don't you need to ask Hal first?" Ranger asked in an amused tone.

"I'll ask, but I can be lots of fun, and I'm pretty sure I can persuade Hal to keep me around. Unless you hear otherwise, see you in a week," I said as I disconnected.

My cell phone buzzed again. New text message.

_You hung up on me, Babe!_

I texted back. _You hang up on me all the time. Guess your bad habits are rubbing off on me._

_Have a good time_, Ranger replied.

Little angel Stephanie told me to leave it. Little devil Stephanie told me to tweak Ranger's tail. Guess which one won?

_Oh, I can guarantee that. Bwhahaha. Going to get wet with Hal now. Bye!_

I threw my cell phone on the towel and raced for the water. I squealed a little when it splashed up my legs, it was freaking cold. But that might help to cool down some of my overactive hormones a little. Teasing Ranger had turned up the temp a little.

I splashed around a little and eventually made it in the water up to my waist. I'd gotten over the need to keep my hair looking good shortly after becoming a bounty hunter. There was just no point. But I didn't want to get all of me wet since it was still a bit chilly, and I didn't want to be flashing my headlights at Hal all day.

I shrieked when something swept by my legs and then I found myself lifted up. Hal came out of the water with a wide grin on his face. I punched him on the bicep and he just grinned wider.

"What the hell?" I asked, mostly rhetorically. "You're lucky I'm not armed right now!"

"Sweetheart, I rubbed lotion on you in that tiny little bikini. I knew you weren't carrying."

"Still," I huffed as I crossed my arms over my chest as he stood with me in his arms. "Not cute!"

He jiggled me in his arms and I had to clutch at his neck to keep from falling. He carried us farther out in the water until the water was to my chest. So much for keeping the headlights on low beams.

He kept his arms around me as the waves washed up and over us in gentle, rolling undulations.

"So, were you ever going to tell me that you were off all this week?" I finally broke the companionable silence.

His arms tightened around me. "No," he admitted. "Not until we were back."

"Why not?"

"Because I know you and you'd refuse to come with me if you thought it would be an inconvenience for me to take you back on Sunday. But really, it'll be fine. I can drop you back and then head back here on Monday morning. No problem at all," Hal hastened to reassure me.

"About that," I said. "What would you say if I didn't have to go back on Sunday?"

"I'd say that sounded great," he replied instantly. "Is something going on?"

I shook my head. "Ranger called while you were swimming. He checked out the tapes and was not so pleased that some of the guys were dragging me to the gym and range on what was supposed to be my time off. So to compensate me, he offered me the week off. His only caveat was that I couldn't come back having back slid on my fitness levels," I explained. "But it's bad enough to crash part of your vacation, so I'll definitely understand if you'd rather have some alone time during the week. I can get a hotel room in town, no problem."

He turned me so that I was facing him instead of facing out at the ocean.

"Steph, did you not hear me last night?" he asked seriously as he stared into my eyes.

"I did. But I also heard you say that you like your privacy when you can get it. Well, you can get it. My feelings won't be hurt if you want to drop me off in town for the week. You can just pick me up on Sunday and we can head back to Trenton," I told him.

Truthfully, my feelings probably would be hurt a little, but I'd do my best to hide it.

"Absolutely not. I'd love it if you'd stay here with me. Besides, it'll give me more time to ply you with brownies and make you fall for me," he said with a grin.

I smiled at him mischievously. "Speaking of brownies…" I hinted.

He kissed the tip of my nose. "That supposed to be a subtle hint?"

"Subtle, no. Hint, hell yes."

He threw back his head and laughed, and dear God if that didn't turn him into about the hottest man I'd ever seen, and I'd had the definite fortune of working with a whole hell of a lot of hot men in my more recent days.

I stared at him in awe while he got his laughter under control. "Man, you're fun," he told me as his eyes crinkled at the corners and his dimples flashed at me.

A bigger than usual swell pushed me against him and his arms anchored me to his chest before I started floating off towards England. I always wanted to visit Europe, but I think I'd rather try to fly there.

I bit back a slight moan at the feel of his hard, warm chest pressed tightly against my breasts. I felt him suck in a deep breath and I ventured a glance up at him through my eyelashes.

He was staring down at me, and he groaned when I looked up at him.

"Hal?"

His eyes were fixated on my lips as I said his name.

"Stephanie," he whispered before he shook his head slightly. His eyes came back into focus as he took a deep breath.

You know, I really like seeing his eyes all soft and out of focus like that. Without thinking about it much, I decided to make them do that again.

I stood on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed myself close to him.

"Ah, sweetheart," he said in a strangled voice as his head inched closer to mine.

"Yes, Hal?" I breathed.

"You're making it really hard for me to keep things platonic," he said gruffly.

Oh, things were hard, alright.

"Who said anything about keeping things platonic?" I whispered softly. "You wanted me to consider a relationship with you? Well, consider this me considering it."

That must have been all of the encouragement he needed because then his lips were on mine.

It was a soft kiss, but not a tentative one. Hal definitely knew what he was doing, but he wasn't trying to force things or speed them up. It was soft and gentle but the amount of fire that sparked to life at the mere touch of our lips was surprising, especially considering I was up to my neck in cool water. That should have put a damper on things, right?

It didn't. Boy, if I went up in flames this quick while in the cold water, I can only imagine what his lips could do to me in other environs. Let's just say wow.

While I was so focused on what his lips could do to me, I neglected to think about his hands until they shifted from simply resting along my back to my ass, cupping my butt and lifting me up.

I wrapped my legs around his waist as he lifted me into his arms so he didn't have to bend to kiss me. His groan as my legs went around him was even sweeter than the pancakes he'd made for me this morning.

"Oh, God, Stephanie," he whispered against my lips. I moaned as his hips moved against mine and he sucked in a ragged breath.

"Mmm," I murmured in agreement. Damn, but he was good at this. If he was half as good at baking as he was at making out, I just might marry him.

He pulled back slightly and rested his cheek against mine. I snuggled in closer to him and he groaned slightly as I brushed against him as I adjusted my legs around his waist.

"Please, sweetheart," he murmured. "I'm trying to be a gentleman here but you have to stay still!"

I giggled at his slightly chagrined tone. I couldn't help it.

He let out a long breath before he started chuckling too. "Well, it was one heck of a first kiss," he finally said.

"No kidding!"

His arms tightened around me and he started walked towards the shore. "Hey, where're we going?" I asked in confusion?

"You're starting to turn blue, I need to get you out of the water before you develop hypothermia," he replied as he continued walking us out of the waves.

Oh. I hadn't noticed once I'd wrapped myself around him like a boa constrictor. "I guess it is a little chilly," I admitted after a moment's consideration.

Hal sat me down on the towel, and used the other one to dry me off before he dried his own arms and chest. He then sat down next to me and draped his arm around my shoulder. "You okay?" he asked after a minute.

I nodded. "Fine. You?"

"Yeah."

There was another minute of silence, but it felt comfortable and not awkward. We stayed like that for a long time, each of us lost in our own little world while the autumn sun's rays warmed and dried us.

I hadn't even noticed when my head drifted over to Hal's shoulder until he shifted to tuck me closer against his side. I looked up to grin my thanks, and he just smiled at me before dropping a quick kiss on my forehead.

I did, however, notice his big hand drawing a little design on my bare arm. After the kiss we just shared, it set my hormones to tap dancing like Shirley Temple on speed.

"Hal," I said in a slightly breathy tone.

His hand stilled. "Yeah, sweetheart? What's wrong?"

"You haven't fed me nearly enough sugar to be touching me like that," I told him with a grin.

He grinned back at me, his eyes darkening to a midnight blue. "So what do you want me do about it?" he asked in a husky voice.

I had two options here. I could either throw him down on the towel and hope the beach was as deserted as it looked, or I could drag him back to the beach house and force him to make me those brownies that he'd been taunting me with.

"You've been telling me how good your brownies are," I challenged. "Time to put up or shut up."

"Sure you don't want me to put out instead?" he asked with a wicked grin as he stood up.

Yes.

"Brownies first, then I'll decide," I said with a wink as I bent over to pack up my bag. I grinned when he groaned at my ass in the air. Served him right, he started it.

"Let's go, smartass," he told me as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the house.

"You love my ass," I retorted.

"Absolutely."

I grinned. I figured given our earlier conversation, but it was good to know.

_**Author's note:**_ Thanks for all of the great reviews, they really make my day! Please let me know what you think of the story so far.


	4. Brownies

We went it, showered quickly and then met up in the kitchen. Hal was already measuring out ingredients when I sauntered in.

"I'm not much of a cook," I reminded him, "but is there anything I can do to help?"

Hal shot me a blindingly sweet, and sexy, grin. "Nah, I've got it," he told me. "You can just keep me company while I get it mixed up."

"Now that," I declared, "I can do!"

I moved to stand next to him, and he surprised me when he lifted me up to sit on the counter. I let out a startled yelp and he grinned at me.

I watched in surprise as he measured out flour, sugar, cocoa powder and all sorts of other things into a bowl and mixed all the dry stuff together well until the mix was a rich, dusky brown from all the cocoa powder that boded well for my future. Then he mixed together water, oil and eggs and added them to the dry stuff and then he dumped in almost the whole bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips.

I had to bite back a moan at that.

Hal looked up with a grin. The batter was thick, like molasses on a cold day, but I was ready to dive head first into the bowl and say screw baking them.

Before I could articulate my new plan for the day, he poured it into a pan, and I almost whimpered in sadness. But I perked up when he poured the rest of the chocolate chips on top and then put them in the oven and set the timer. Only thirty-eight minutes until brownie time.

And then I damn near swooned when he came over to me with the mixing spoon in his hand with a big blob of batter on it and offered it to me. I eagerly accepted, moaning in delight as the rich chocolate hit my taste buds and sent them into explosions of joy.

Once I'd gotten every single molecule of chocolate and sugar from the spoon, he swirled a finger into the bowl to scoop some of the batter from the side and offered me his finger. I licked the batter from his finger, and sucked it into my mouth to get it completely clean.

He cleared his throat. "This may have been a bad idea," he murmured as he tried to step away.

I held tight to his hand and pulled him closer. "No, it was a great idea," I told him. My hormones were running rampant, true, but so were my emotions. Here was a really great guy who just spent the last twenty minutes making me brownies from scratch just because I needed dessert, and now he was feeding me the batter.

As far as I was concerned, he was damn near perfect in my book, and I saw no reason why I couldn't mix my sugar urges with my less easily satisfied by Duncan Hines ones.

"Steph," he said in a strangled voice. "I promised not to pressure you."

"You're not," I told him. "I'm pressuring you."

"Oh thank God," he said as his free hand wrapped around the back of my head so he could hold me while he kissed the living daylights out of me. I moaned into his mouth, and that seemed to do something dangerous to him since he hauled me against him then, so tight that not even a single ray of light could fit between us.

If I thought the kiss on the beach was good, I had no idea what I was missing. This kiss wasn't soft at all. No siree, nothing at all was soft. This kiss was all passion and fire and boy was I ready to burn, baby, burn in Hal's inferno.

I ripped my lips away from his when I needed to breathe again, and he just moved those oh-so-talented lips to my neck, nipping at the pulse pounding in my throat before soothing the slight sting with the pad of his tongue. Then his lips nibbled down the column of my neck to the muscle where my neck and shoulder met. I shuddered when he suckled gently, and then I shook again when his laughter shook us both.

"Do you like that?" he asked in a voice so low that I almost didn't recognize it as his.

I nodded slightly, and he did it again. My head tipped back as I panted to catch my breath, and he fastened his lips on the fluttering flesh just above my collar bone.

"Hal!" I moaned, going crazy with need.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" he asked as he pulled back slightly. "What do you need?"

I swallowed hard. I knew how I wanted to answer that question. I wanted to shout that I needed him, to rip off both of our clothes and shove him down on the nearest semi-cushioned surface and ride him like I was at Churchill Downs and he was a pony in the race for the Triple Crown.

But I didn't.

I sucked in a couple of deep, shuddering breaths, closed my eyes, and tried to remind myself why we needed to go slightly slower than warp speed nine fleeing from the Borg.

I really have got to stop hanging out with Mooner so much. I'm watching so many Star Trek marathons that I'm actually thinking in Trekkie now.

"Steph?" he asked in a softer tone after a minute.

"Yeah," I replied. "Well, that was, um, intense."

Hal backed up slightly, sucked in his own deep breath and handed me the bowl with the brownie batter in it. "Yeah. I'll just check on the brownies."

I nodded, but he was already walking away.

He was back a couple of minutes later. I'd scarfed down all the batter while he was gone, and the bowl could almost pass for clean already.

"I'm sorry," I said softly.

He tipped my chin up to look at him. "Why?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Uh, 'cause that got a lot more out of hand than I thought it would," I explained. "And I'm sorry."

He just shrugged. "Don't be. It's fine."

I glared at him. "Look, I know I might be a tease when I'm doing a distraction or whatever, but I don't want to be like that in my real life!"

He seemed startled by my vehemence. "Hey now. No. Stop that. So things got a little out of hand for both of us. That's okay, it just means that there's an attraction level there."

I softened my glare. "You think?" I asked a little sarcastically.

He grinned at me. "Well, yeah, for me, I definitely think you're gorgeous," he replied calmly.

I blushed a little. "Thanks," I mumbled. "And, yeah, you're pretty cute, too."

I think his ears maybe turned a tiny bit pink. "I wasn't fishing for compliments, but I'm glad you think so," he replied.

I looked up with a grin. "What do seals eat if not fish?"

He started laughing. "Little girls from the 'Burg," he said as he grabbed me off the counter.

I squealed in laughter as we play fought in the kitchen. I ended up wrapped up in his arms again, both of my arms pinned to my sides. I could get away if I really wanted, but it would require me to kick him in the balls. I decided against it. He grinned down at me and dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose.

"Brownies should be done in just a…" he started just before the timer started beeping.

I looked at him, impressed. "How'd you know?" I asked.

He shrugged and let me go. "Situational awareness. You have to be aware of how much time is passing."

"Damn."

He shot me a grin over his shoulder as he fished out some potholders from a drawer and pulled the big 9x13 pan of brownies out of the oven. Dear heavens, but they looked delicious!

"We have to let them cool just a minute," Hal said, much to my intense disappointment. "Do you like crispy or gooey?"

I blinked at him. "What?"

"Do you like the crispy outer edges of the brownie pan or the gooey inner center?" he explained.

"Yes."

"Which ones?"

"Yes."

Then he got it and started smiling. "You don't discriminate, huh?"

"Nope. I'm an equal opportunity brownie fan. I love them all."

"So how about one of each then?" he asked as he got down some plates.

"Sweet Jesus, you really have figured out the way to my heart!" I exclaimed.

He just grinned at me. "I'm trying."

He poured two big glasses of milk then, and then checked the brownies. "They're still pretty hot, but I don't think you can wait much longer, can you?"

"I'm about to lose my ever lovin' mind as it is." It was taking every bit of will power I had not to grab the pan and run away. It was only the knowledge that I'd burn my hands that kept me from being the choco-klepto.

He grinned, got out a big knife and started cutting the biggest brownies I've ever seen. And I got two of them!

Hal handed me a dinner plate with two brownies the size of a small pet, a fork and my glass of milk before he grabbed his own and we headed to the table.

He watched me with an expectant grin while I took my first bite. It felt like chocolate lava in my mouth, but it was totally worth it, I decided as I moaned aloud. I took a quick sip of icy cold milk, looked at Hal and then grinned. "Excellent!"

He just grinned wider and picked up his own fork. "I'm so relieved. You'd never date me if I failed in this."

I shook my head. "Probably not," I teased with a wink. Eh, who am I kidding, I would even if he couldn't cook anything at all. I mean, who am I to judge?

He just laughed and took a bite of his own brownie. "They did turn out pretty good," he admitted.

"I think they're the best brownies I've ever had," I confessed as I took another huge bite. "These are really amazing."

He beamed at me. "I'm glad you like them."

"How'd you learn to bake and all that jazz?" I asked.

He finished his bite and took a sip of milk before answering. "My grandmother. She wasn't in real great health when I was growing up, so my dad would send me to her house to help her out as often as he could spare me at the farm. After I finished chores in the garden or around the house, she'd always want to fix me something for dinner. I had a big sweet tooth growing up, and she knew how much I loved her brownies. As she got older, she couldn't make them as easily, so she taught me how so I'd make them for the two of us."

I melted at the thought of this big, strong badass making brownies for his grandmother.

"What did your dad say?" I asked.

He shrugged. "He never knew. He just assumed she was still able to bake a little every now and then. He has no idea that I can cook."

"Can you cook anything else?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Grams taught me how to make a lot of things, but I've also learned that since I know the basics, there aren't that many things that I can't cook or bake now."

I shook my head. "That's a really great story. Thanks for sharing it with me."

He smiled, a tender one I hadn't seen from him before. "Thanks for letting me think about my grams again. She was a great woman. In fact, she's the one who told me to go to college and to get out of Tennessee, that I was meant for other things than a life on the farm. She's the whole reason why I wasn't afraid to apply to college and then to join the Navy."

"She sounds like a remarkable woman."

"She was."

"I wish I'd had someone like her to teach me to cook," I told him. "But my mom expected me to be perfect from the first time I ever saw a kitchen, and if I messed up a recipe, I could never live it down. It was just easier to stop trying than to deal with being bitched at for not knowing how to do anything perfectly the first time I tried it."

Hal picked up my hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. "I'll teach you what I know if you want," he offered. "Or I'm sure Ella could teach you how to cook without being so demanding."

I nodded. "I'll think about it."

"Do that. But only if you want to learn, not because you think I expect you to or anything like that."

"I know. But there are definitely times when I wish I knew how to do more than make a sandwich or nuke something, but I refuse to give my mother the satisfaction of going to her and asking for help. She'd just rant and rave about how I should have learned years ago, how Dickie would have never cheated if only I'd been a decent wife, and blah blah blah. I just can't deal with all that."

"I promise not to act like that, and I'm sure Ella wouldn't either. Plus there's all kinds of how-to cooking videos online now. I just tend to learn better with someone there I can ask questions, but you do whatever feels comfortable for you, sweetheart."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Hal."

"Anytime, Steph. Anything, anytime."

I knew he meant it, too. He'd already demonstrated that over the years, but especially by recognizing how close I was to the edge and bringing me here before I self-destructed.

We finished out brownies, and surprisingly, two were enough for me. For now. We put the dishes in the dishwasher and then Hal turned to look at me. "So what now?" he asked.

I nibbled on my lower lip.

"Steph? What is it, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Could we maybe just sit out on the deck and watch the ocean for a little while? You can read or whatever," I assured him. "I don't need to be entertained."

"That's fine," he said. "I had no real plans for this week other than just to relax. I can relax with you. That's even better than anything I could have imagined," he said sincerely.

I smiled and headed towards the glass doors that led out onto the deck. Hal beat me, damn those super long legs of his, and opened it for me. I smiled my thanks and he smiled back, flashing those mesmerizing dimples at me.

I headed towards the big two-person chaise lounge, and Hal headed towards one of the single ones.

"You can sit here, if you want," I said a little bit bashfully.

He reversed direction instantly and sat down next to me. I leaned back against the reclined seat and stared out at the water. A few seconds later, Hal leaned back too. I reached over and took his hand in mine, twining our fingers together.

I don't know who this newer, bolder Stephanie Plum was, but I kind of liked her.

Hal sent me a heart-meltingly beautiful smile as he squeezed my hand, and I decided I liked new Stephanie a lot. I hope she stuck around even back in Trenton.

We held hands and watched the waves crash on the shore and then retreat for the next hour or so until my stomach decided it wanted something more than brownies for lunch. That pulled Hal from his trance.

"Lunch?" he asked.

I just nodded. "Eat in or go out?"

"How about I make sandwiches and stuff and we have a picnic out here?" I proposed. "Since you made breakfast and brownies, I can at least make sandwiches."

"I don't mind helping," he protested.

"I know, but let me do this," I insisted.

He opened his mouth to argue more, but new Stephanie shut him up with a kiss.

"You going to argue more?" I asked with a saucy grin.

"You going to kiss me again if I do?" he asked with a smirk. "If so, yeah!"

I grinned at him and got to my feet. "You stay put, mister. Or else!"

"Or else what?" he asked curiously.

"Bad, bad things," I threatened. "I don't know what, but bad!"

He grinned and fired off a salute. "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

I stuck my tongue out at him and scurried into the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later, I headed back out with a veritable feast of ham and cheddar sandwiches on rye, turkey and provolone sandwiches on sourdough, sliced apples, carrot sticks with ranch (the ranch was for me), potato chips, and of course, brownies. I had found a couple of bottles of water in the fridge, so I had those tucked under my arms while everything else was on a large platter I'd found in the cabinet.

Hal leaped to his feet to help me with my burdens as I approached. "Wow, this looks great!" he said in awe.

"I may not be able to cook much, but I can make sandwiches with the best of them," I told him.

He grinned back at me. "I'd say so. I'm not sure I'll be able to eat this thing without sitting on it first to squish it down a little!"

Eh, so I'd done a little bit overboard with the meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Sue me.

I just smiled at his evident satisfaction with lunch. "Alright, sit and eat," I ordered.

He waited until I sat before he did, but then we both sat and grabbed for our big sandwiches. They really were quite huge, but I was starving and knew I could handle it. I had seen Hal eat before, and he was a big guy with a big appetite, so I felt confident in his abilities, too.

We chatted about our favorite things to do at the beach while we ate. Big shocker here, brace yourselves, but Hal's favorite beach thing was swimming. Completely stunning discovery, right? But after that, his favorite thing about the shore was just walking up and down the beach. Another exercise-related activity. Why am I not surprised?

Mine was just laying out soaking up the rays and watching all the people. Young, old, happy or sad, I just liked to watch the people at the beach. They all had different things on their minds.

Little kids were utterly fascinated by the sand and surf, and I especially loved watching really little kids who would creep close to the water to peer into the foaming, murky depths but then run screaming back to their parents when the waves came too close to their toes. They amused me.

Older people often seemed to be lost in thought when they either walked along the beach or sat and stared into the never-ending cycle of waves. I always wished I had ESP to know what they were thinking of then. Was it of long lost loves? Or more mundane things like how to pay off their student loans without eating Ramen every day for the rest of their lives?

I always wondered.

We had a good time talking, and I gently teased Hal about his favorite things involving cardiovascular conditioning. He just grinned and flexed a bicep for me. "It's how I got to be a SEAL," he commented.

I took a moment to appreciate the view that all his hard work had wrought. "I'm not knocking the view, I'm just saying it figures that you guys would rank working out as your favorite thing to do at the beach," I protested.

He smirked. "Like the view, huh?"

I peeked up at him through my eyelashes. "I'll take the fifth."

"Ah, so answering would be incriminating," he said with his eyes sparkling.

"Again, taking the fifth."

That just got me a big grin that flashed the dimples in his cheeks. I rolled my eyes at him and he chuckled.

"Alright, Ms. Constitutional Law, so what do you want to do now?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Nothing in particular. Any suggestions?"

"How about a swim?"

"Aren't we supposed to wait an hour before swimming?"

He shook his head. "If you were going to swim the English Channel, maybe," Hal replied. "But to just go for a swim in the shallows, you're fine. It's just an old wives' tale that going swimming in anything less than sixty minutes after a meal will lead to your definite drowning from cramps."

"You sure?" I queried.

"Sweetheart, I've swum immediately after eating, hell, while eating, more times than I can even begin to count!" Hal assured me. "And as you can see, I'm still here. No drowning for me."

"You promise to come save me if I get a monster cramp?"

He grinned. "Cross my heart."

"Fair enough." Then I went to go change back into my bathing suit and to grab my bag of beach essentials. We met on the deck again and headed back down to the beach.

Then Hal spent the next couple of hours teaching me to swim better in the calm seas. I could do the basics, but I certainly was not going to make Michael Phelps stay awake at night in fear that I'd beat his speed swimming records. Hal could swim like, well, a seal. He cut through the water with what seemed like no effort at all.

I was impressed.

I splashed around and managed to make some forward motion against the waves, but nothing at all like Hal. He was like a freaking shark, zooming through the water as though the waves had absolutely no impact on him. Either way, at the end of a an hour of swimming, the sun was starting to set, my arms, legs and abs felt like mush, and I figured this had definitely qualified as a workout.

Hal had to wrap one arm around my waist as I staggered out of the surf. "Damn, I hurt in places I didn't even know existed!" I exclaimed as I collapsed to the towel.

Hal just nodded. "Swimming is a great total body workout, especially when you have to fight the current. It takes a lot of coordinated effort to move."

"No kidding."

He let me lay there panting on the towel for a couple of minutes before he hauled me back to my rubbery legs. "Come on, you need to walk a little to help get the lactic acid out of your muscles. Otherwise, it'll be hurting by tonight and you'll be too locked up to do much tomorrow," he opined.

I groaned but let him set me on my feet so we could walk. Slowly walk. If he tried to make me run right now, I'd carve a gun and bullets out of the driftwood and shoot him.

That became our pattern over the next several days. We'd make breakfast together, walk on the beach, have lunch either at the house or on the boardwalk, swim in the afternoon and then have a nice dinner. We spent much of the time talking, and I now felt like I really knew Hal. I'd learned more about his background and family, and he'd learned more about me. He'd even told me a few stories about his time in the SEALs, but had apologetically explained that there was much he just couldn't talk about.

I understood. I didn't like it, my nosy side complained, but I did understand.

_**Author's note: **__Sorry for missing a week! I misplaced my flash drive that had the most updated version of the story, but I was able to find it today while home due to snow. I was grateful for the snow day and the chance to catch up on some work that I never seem able to accomplish at work with all the interruptions, and for the chance to find my missing flash drive. I hope everyone was able to stay warm and safe throughout the storms that've been pounding the East Coast._

_Thanks for all the wonderful reviews you've left for me; they mean so much. Please let me know what you think about Hal and Steph's vacation and relationship so far! _


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